The CEA is petitioning to have terrestrial TV refarmed to free up some spectrum. The wireless companies will both pay the government and the broadcasters to get the spectrum.
Though I liked Clinton/Gore, the HDTV plan was boned headed beyond belief. They should have never allowed HDTV in VHF, but stationed wanted parity with their analog status. We have one HDTV station with a dozen channels. It is so multiplexed it doesn't even look like SDTV. Trust me, I could rant on for pages on this. -----Original Message----- From: "Charles P. Steinmetz" <charles_steinm...@lavabit.com> Sender: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:23:22 To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement<time-nuts@febo.com> Reply-To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement <time-nuts@febo.com> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] LightSquared gets at least some political attention Mark wrote: >if the FCC is going to allow high power terrestrial transmitters >in frequency bands adjacent to those used for receiving weak >satellite signals >it would be helpful if they would provide some specific guidance in >terms of the >field strength levels that receivers and their antennas will be expected to >tolerate. They will, when they publish final technical rules for the new terrestrial services. In keeping with the modern FCC trend, it will presumably be in the form of an "emissions mask" that the terrestrial transmitters must meet. I assume that any transmitters installed pursuant to the ATC rules are govered by an emissions mask that was already adopted by the FCC in one of the ATC orders, which may simply be re-adopted in the terrestrial proceeding. >It would be even better if the FCC would deem field strength levels >in excess of this amount to be harmful interference That will be the case when the technical rules for the terrestrial services are adopted, and I presume it is the case with respect to any transmitters installed pursuant to the ATC rules. >Setting the field strengths levels in accordance with sound engineering >practices, getting input from stake holders and providing a multi >year phase in >period would be nice as well (: Well, whenever satellite services operate adjacent to terrestrial services, one person's sound engineering is another's unmitigated disaster. I refer you to the voluminous record in the WCS/SDARS proceeding for confirmation of this. (Go to http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment_search/ and search for Proceeding Numbers 07-293 and 95-91. Look at filings by the WCS Coalition, the several largest telecommunications companies, and the SDARS licensees Sirius and XM (now merged)) The FCC is getting input from stakeholders, but understand that a bunch of folks in and out of government think mobile broadband is the primary key to national innovation and competiveness going forward, and they are all scared spitless. The FCC sees the US becoming a third-world country with respect to broadband (particularly, mobile broadband) and is in a full-on panic about it. Now, I'm not sure I agree with them -- but then I have a hate-hate relationship with my cell phone and probably don't use 100 minutes of air time annually, (though I do use a PDA for work e-mail quite a lot, but I've never once used it to view a web site, IM, Twit, or whatever). They may be right, or they may be wrong, but (like Pascal's Wager) many people will be so scared of the possibility that they will feel the need to go that way even if they don't really believe in it. So, the reality is that we *will* be getting as much additional wireless spectrum as the FCC can, in its panic, find and reallocate. (All of that would be true just on policy grounds alone. In reality, all of the policy considerations have a fierce tailwind in the form of an extremely well-funded and politically-savvy telecommunications industry, which stands to make $ trillions over the next 20 or 30 years.) The FCC is rushing to implement a 5-year plan (with a 3-year sub-plan), so that is about the most phase-in we are going to get. Best regards, Charles _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.